The Laws of Motion
by HorseTechie
Summary: Every birthday presented Hiro with a new milestone - something memorable, and somehow significantly life changing. For his 17 birthday, Aunt Cass gave him her old truck. Rather than take on the repairs by himself, Hiro asked for help from GoGo. That in turn meant going on a roadtrip to LA and meeting up with GoGo's old friends, but that's not all that happens! (Tumblr BH6 Big Bang)


**AN: Hello! This new fanfic is part of a long awaited Tumblr project myself and many other BH6 fans have been working on ever since this spring. This one is a little different from my usual BH6 fics, since it's in the future and has more oc's, but it is still fun! I have also collaborated with a couple of artists on Tumblr. Many thanks to Brodachi, aka Lulu Teatime and Diem, for their artwork from this fanfic. Plus there are lots of other writers and artists posting their submissions at the BH6 Big Bang Tumblr as well!** **bh6bigbang. tumblr. com**

 **Without further ado, please enjoy!**

* * *

 **The Laws of Motion**

Every summer had a way of presenting the younger Hamada with something new. New milestones, new changes, different situations. Part of this was because his birthday fell in the middle of June. As it was for the majority of teenagers, birthdays signify so many new freedoms.

The summer of Hiro's fourteenth birthday stood out as the most life-changing one. How he went from experiencing so many amazing things to having his world turned upside down by a loss so devastating, it was a miracle he had hope for years to come. It did take some coaxing from his SFIT lab friends to celebrate his fifteenth birthday without regret. Aunt Cass helped sweeten that milestone by agreeing to get her savvy nephew the latest, fully-functional smartphone.

After Hiro turned sixteen, he tested for his driver's license and got the permission to pull out his brother's old moped. This year, Aunt Cass promised she would officially give him her old truck. With the addition of a catering service, she upgraded to a hybrid, electronic SUV a few months ago to transport the food.

For Hiro, this was just the best thing ever to finally have an actual vehicle of his own to drive. No more subways, buses, or trying to bum a ride from Wasabi or Fred, when it was to far of a drive for a moped. All of the above, except for GoGo. Nothing still could not compare to going on a motorcycle ride with her, no offense to Baymax.

Of course, there was always the parking issue and having enough money for gas. And, well, being an old classic model from the mid 1900's, the truck was anything but fuel efficient. The most annoying thing about it now was that it practically took ten seconds for the truck to accelerate to thirty miles an hour, all the while flooring the creaky gas pedal. Not good if trying to go up a San Fransokyo hill!

However, it had been in the family for as long as he could remember. As he been told from time to time, the vintage vehicle used to belong to his late grandfather, from the Hammacher side of the family. Aunt Cass reminded him of this when she requested that he do his best to take care of her 'baby'. Well, as his teammates had also quickly learned, if they gave him an inch, he'll run off with a mile. Hiro smiled for a moment, knowing exactly what he was going to do.

He wanted to retrofit the engine and exhaust system with something way more modern. Since it was summer break, his options were a little more limited now. Wasabi had been fortunate enough to get an internship with a company in Tokyo, while Fred and Honey Lemon did more work for SHIELD as secret agents. As for himself, well, after Fred's dad pulled a few strings, he was interning with a new sister company for Stark Industries. Cause yeah, heaven forbid he do anything for Krei Tech, no matter how much that CEO kept asking for his help.

Still clutching the keys his aunt just gave him, Hiro grabbed his phone to call GoGo. Fortunately, she hadn't made any plans to leave town anytime soon that summer.

"Hey," her voice answered, popping her gum.

"Hi. So.. are you busy?" Hiro wondered, turning in the garage to look at the faded, light seafoam blue truck parked on the road right in front. He spun the keys around his finger a couple times.

"Not really… why?"

"I just got something wicked cool," his confidence in asking her about these things was much bolder than when he was younger.

" _Wicked_ cool?" more gum chewing was heard.

" _Wick'ed_ cool."

"What did you do?"

"Just got a new ride," Hiro crooned, only to become slightly more serious. "But.. I need you to check something."

"You can't start up your aunt's truck," she predicted rather plainly.

"Correction.. _my_ truck," the younger Hamada informed her. "But, it's actually the acceleration… kind of slow."

"Y'know what? I'll just check over everything. To be sure."

"So you can come over?"

"Yep," the mechanical engineer popped her gum before ending the call.

* * *

The genius somehow managed to back the vintage truck half-way into the garage, just so it was off the street for him to work on it. Or at least, to look like he was. Usually, tinkering with antiquated combustion engines was not really Hiro's thing, even though he claimed he knew what he was doing. Primarily because it was tedious, grimy work, and apart from adding nitro-conversion, there wasn't any more wow that could be added to a fairly solid design. Pretty rudimentary stuff, really, in comparison to rocket science.

GoGo chewed her pink gum in thought while checking what he told her about the fuel filter being clogged, and some build up in the lines, among other things. It even smelled of old rubber and petroleum, and the hood had to be held down with bungee cords to keep it closed when driving. Right now, they had to use two long two-by-fours to hold it up.

She straightened up and turned to look at the younger Hamada, in a navy t-shirt and faded skinny jeans cut off at the knees. He also sported some ear piercings he got recently, just to increase his macho appearance, or something. Her eyes wandered to some dark grease marks on his pale, toned arms for a brief second before she glanced at the engine again. Hiro's long, bushy hair was a little more unkemp looking than usual, and his bangs stuck to his forehead from some sweat. The humidity was bad that afternoon. "Honestly, Hiro… it's _old_. You would be better off selling it and using the money to buy something better."

"I could, except it's got a lot of sentimental value," he swept his bangs back out of his eyes, causing the fire red strands that had been highlighted to stand out more. "Used to be my grandpa's. Apparently he loved to rebuild classic cars, when he wasn't running his antique shop."

"Making something out of nothing seems to run in the family," GoGo mused, knowing she couldn't argue with what he said.

Sometimes it also really struck her just how much taller Hiro also had gotten in the last year. He was a couple inches over her now, something she didn't think was ever going to happen. She had been waiting for him to get older for so long... it was hard to believe he finally was looking it.

"Fixing the engine wasn't all that I had in mind though," the prodigy grabbed his tablet then leaned against the fender next to her. After he flicked on the holographic mode, he pulled up a web article that displayed a hybrid engine that ran off of a clean, easy to get fuel source. His finger lightly tapped the screen so that the blue, floating 3D image would turn slowly. "I want to replace it with something like this one. It has a lot more horsepower than the electric systems too."

"That does mean completely gutting everything out…" GoGo squinted at it, before glancing sidelong at him. His dark eyes shone from the hologram, and also from the apparent excitement in making his dream a reality.

"Is this something we can do?"

"You're asking me? You're the genius!" the speed queen confronted him on that.

"I can try machining the parts, but if you have a _better_ idea," he smiled flirtatiously at her with his gap-toothed grin. Yep, he was trying to get something from her.

 _He's gotta stop that._

"Yeah, there is another way," she sighed, chewing her strawberry flavored bubble gum for a moment. "Are you free the rest of this week?"

"Maybe…" he shut down the hologram and swiped at the screen to look at a calendar view on his tablet.

"Then plan on going to LA with me tomorrow. I know some people who can get the parts."

"Okay. I.. can manage that," Hiro smiled, more sincerely this time.

"Good," GoGo stepped in front of him, but it wasn't to slip by. She reached up with a hand behind his neck to pull the robotics specialist closer, then kissed him on his mouth. Whenever she was first to kiss him, which wasn't very often, he tended to freeze up in that moment of pleasant surprise.

After her second hand came up to touch Hiro's jawline, he parted his mouth as his kisses became more passionate. She welcomed him to taste her sweet lips, her mouth, and more. For a moment, it seemed like he didn't know what to do with his free hand, until he finally brought it around her shoulders while his other hand still holding the tablet rested at her waist.

"Happy Birthday, genius," the speed queen broke away long enough to explain herself, her fingers loosely stroking the nape of his neck. The musky smell about him filled more of her nostrils, something so familiar and somehow comforting. He let his forehead rest against hers, clearly enjoying her close proximity while it lasted.

"Thanks, Zee," Hiro whispered, chewing lightly on her bubblegum now in his mouth. The smitten teen looked like he was going to say something else, but he didn't.

 _Love you, too._ The corners of her mouth turned upward ever so slightly, then she kissed him again real quick before stepping away. "Start packing. We're leaving tomorrow."

As if to mock her, Hiro looked coolly at GoGo and then blew a big bubble before popping it. "Great."

GoGo rolled her eyes. He was so hopeless.

"I wanna fix the acceleration problem before we go," he tossed the filter box at her. "Or it'll take us all day to get there!"

"That, is _not_ going to happen," the speed queen snorted in response to the latter comment. Hiro also had another thing coming if he expected her to change out everything herself.

All the same, GoGo had become accustomed to his coy nature at this point now. They had been through so much in the last three years, making their relationship anything but ordinary. If she had to describe it, Hiro was like her closest best friend. At first, she used to treat him like a brother, but after realizing just how much the young prodigy liked her, that changed. Even though she was also good friends with the others on their team, GoGo somehow felt more at home with Hiro. Probably because of how like-minded they were, and that he was the only other one she could share her mac n cheese with kimchi without getting constant feedback on how weird that was. The boy apparently had some eccentric tastes too.

She had tried keeping it loose with him at one point, knowing that the age thing was kind of tough. There was a time they decided to be 'open to other options' as far a relationships went, per say. Hiro happened to meet a new freshman at SFIT who was close to his age. Her name was Mary and also had a brilliant mind. Even though she was beautiful and very interested in Hiro's projects, that relationship did not last long. He muttered something about Mary just talking too much, but GoGo could only guess the real reason. The girl prodigy probably knew more than him. Honey Lemon found that to be kind of ironic that Hiro did not like the competition. Somehow, finding new friends really wasn't his thing though. Hiro still preferred to be by himself working on something, if he wasn't invited to hang out with the rest of the 'nerd herd'.

Likewise, GoGo found herself comparing the other guys who attempted to flirt with her to Hiro and her other teammates. The college senior had come to realize just how much her three male teammates respected her personal space. With Hiro though, she sometimes forgot that he was way younger than her. Other times, she had to work at controlling even herself to not go past second base.

After it was all said and done, she was thankful for waiting. Despite all the heated arguments she had with the younger Hamada, or the times either one of them had to stay all night in the ER after a bad scrape, the connection she felt with him was not like with anyone else she knew. GoGo helped him overcome his fears, he also had seen her weaknesses, and as a result, her love for him let him find the peace of mind he needed.

* * *

GoGo was already standing by the counter in the Lucky Cat Café, talking with Aunt Cass, when Hiro approached them. He set his carry-on sized suitcase down next to the counter, then turned to grab some drinks from her refrigerated case. "Please?" he asked his aunt, holding four soda-pop bottles and a couple waters while looking as sweet as can be. There were some things he just was never going to grow out of.

"That's okay, sweetie," she seemed to sigh, before flashing a smile. He saw GoGo shake her head in disbelief though.

" _Arigatoo, oba-san_ ," he expressed his appreciation while setting them on the counter. He turned to go through the door that lead to the kitchen to look for a cooler to put them in.

"I made some lunch for you two as well," Aunt Cass added, setting five long rolls of the Korean equivalent of a sushi roll, wrapped tightly in foil. The biggest difference was that the fillings consisted of cooked, seasoned vegetables and meat. "It's kimbap, like what Hiro told me about."

"Wow. Thank you, Miss C," the mechanical engineer smiled politely, tucking a strand of her shoulder length hair behind an ear.

"My pleasure! I just want to make sure you two don't need to worry about stopping for food on your way," Aunt Cass smiled warmly in return. She almost looked like she wanted to say something else, but she was distracted by Hiro setting a cooler on the counter.

"Still need some ice," he mentioned, putting the soda-pop and kimbap rolls inside and then closed it. He made a mental note to grab a bag from the machine out back.

"The both of you be safe, okay?" the brunette paused, looking at them with genuine sincerity. If she was worried, she didn't let it show at least.

"We will," Hiro picked up his suitcase and cooler. Considering how abruptly he broke the news about the trip to her last night, his aunt seemed to be taking it in better stride now. Once she learned it was just himself and GoGo, without any of his other team mates, the next concern happened to be about where they were staying. That conversation quickly became awkward as he had to reassure her a number of times that they were staying at her parents place, or a friend's house. No plans at all for a hotel room. Aunt Cass still made him promise that he would be careful, in more ways than one. She had known there was something going on between him and GoGo since his second semester at SFIT, even though he nevery actually told her. But between that and the superhero gig, Hiro pretty much proven that he could take care of himself. Regardless, she unconditionally played her part as the vigilant 'den mom' for Hiro's team.

"I'm leaving Baymax with you, Aunt Cass, in case you need help with anything. He's got that human mode now, so he can help in the café if someone called in sick, or something," Hiro told his aunt also, before leaving. The humanoid body for Baymax was a new design he was experimenting with for the next series of robotic healthcare models, as an additional option for those people who were not comfortable with the billowy robotic form. Looking too much like a robot had become more of a problem with the older generations for many clinics and hospitals. The children's hospitals had been the first target group, and they just latched on to the first Baymax concept right away.

"Oh sweetie, are you sure you will be fine without him?" she politely wondered.

"Yeah," the savvy genius smiled knowingly. It was when that idea to make the truck autonomous crossed his mind again. "It's not like I have other robots."

"You and Baymax are usually inseparable," Aunt Cass still wondered, crossing her arms momentarily to rub her chin. He knew what she meant, in that he still favored Baymax over his other robotic inventions. The most obvious reason was the special connection the billowy robot had with his late brother. The healthcare companion also was pretty good at helping the team maneuver dangerous situations so they would come back alive.

Hiro didn't think this was going to become a superhero mission, however. He had hoped this would be more like a fun trip, with GoGo, to get his truck fixed up. As soon as he thought that, the young leader realized he had strapped on his super suit harness out of habit. This was a new design that all his teammates wore under their clothes. Upon an emergency, it would expand out from under the clothing to cover over on top, using a nanobot technology based off his microbot design, combined with Stark's concepts from his Ironman suits.

Hiro set the cooler and suitcase down again so he could give his aunt a hug. "Don't worry, Aunt Cass. We'll be okay."

"I'll make sure he stays out of trouble," GoGo nodded to Aunt Cass also. She picked up the cooler and her hot coffee to go, motioning for Hiro to head on out.

* * *

"Is it strapped down tight?" GoGo asked him, looking up to the bed of the truck where her black and yellow Kawasaki Ninja sat. She agreed that they should bring her motorcycle along, just in case he also had engine trouble on the way. They fixed what they could yesterday so the truck could make the trip. On the same token, if he was going to replace everything later, then it would be a waste of materials and time to replace what wasn't problematic yet.

"Yeah, it's good," Hiro was sitting down in the bed of the truck. It was his pensiveness that might have made her wonder. His eyes were instead on the outside panel below the back window.

He traced his finger over the scratched line in the faded light blue paint that Aunt Cass covered with clear nail polish to keep it from rusting too much. When he was five, he wrote his name there with a rock. He rode in the middle seat most of the time, so that was where his name was on the outside. He had started the 'Ta' for Tadashi, before they caught on to what he was doing. The fact it was still there and not painted over, had made him nostalgic all over again.

" _Nani_?" she stepped up on the foothold by the back wheel hub to get a better look at him. He finally noticed that she had changed the color of her highlighted bangs to match his own red color. Yes, just the other day, he finally mustered the courage to ask her how she did that, and she ended up demonstrating on his own hair. It actually turned out pretty cool looking with the tips of his hair highlighted, and his bangs streaked with dark red.

It was then Hiro realized he was kind of staring at her, as her look turned into an impatient glare.

"Just.. saw something," the teen smiled sheepishly as he pointed to his name scratched in the paint. "I wrote my name here… when I was five."

"Really?" she rose an eyebrow, then leaned in closer to see. "Why?"

"I was a kid, being stupid," he shrugged, matter of factly.

GoGo just snorted, but after a moment's thought, she asked a more serious question. "Must be some truck if you guys had it that long."

"We got good at fixing it to keep it going," Hiro countered, soon realizing that he used that collective ' we' again in reference to his brother. He tugged on the straps holding down the fast motorcycle again, more out of nervousness than necessity. "Made me think though… that was after grandpa started having lots of health problems. Died like a year later."

GoGo nodded, looking at him with understanding.

"Sometimes I wish I knew him, personally. Sounded like a great guy… from the stories and pictures Aunt Cass and Tadashi told me." After he said that, it seemed ironic that as smart as he was, he could not clearly remember his parents and their kin so much. Tadashi had said it probably was because his subconscious might have wanted to forget that confusing time. His brother… he had been his primary link to who they were though. Even though he himself was doing much better these days, he still struggled in fully accepting the circumstances that took away his only brother.

"At least you knew _who_ they were," GoGo sighed, her subtle way of reminding him to not get too wrapped up in the have-nots. She did not want to blow him off, as she did care about what he had gone through. It was just that the mechanical engineer did not feel like now was a good time. Some time ago, Hiro had learned she hardly knew her real parents, and quite frankly, that she could care less about them. She had been an orphan until her current foster parents adopted her when she was thirteen.

Hiro didn't say anything more as he straightened up to hop out of the back of the truck. "Yeah… let's go."

"Good," she opened the passenger side door to climb inside.

* * *

The large rain drops drummed loudly on the roof of the truck while the windshield wipers swished back and forth frantically to keep the glass clear from the torrential downpour that came from the freak thunderstorm. GoGo furrowed her brow as she gripped the wheel. Her hard gauze seemed to pierce through the storm, unwilling to let it deter her path down the highway.

"You look cute when you're focused like that," Hiro finally told her. He remembered the speed queen told him once that she used to freak out about the thunder and lightening when she was younger. Whether she still did, he wasn't entirely sure. However, the way her knuckles showed white as she tightly gripped the wheel told him otherwise.

She glanced once at him, not changing her expression. "Nice try, nerd. I'm still driving the rest of the way there."

He pouted briefly, "Please?"

"That really doesn't work on me, you know," GoGo did not even bother to look at him then.

Hiro just sighed, looking down to fidget with his half empty soda-pop bottle, trying to find another way to cope with his restlessness. It just so happened a couple hours into the trip, after getting past the most congested part of the freeway, he got pulled over by the state highway patrol for speeding. Fortunately, they just gave him a warning since it was his first time, and that he played the innocent card well. That incident alone was enough to make GoGo take over the wheel. Of course, anything that involved the police had that magical way of making her nervous. Most people believed she had that amazing ability to keep her cool under pressure at all times, but Hiro knew from experience this wasn't always the case.

"Will I get to drive on our way back?" Hiro did feel kind of lame that he had to ask permission to drive from his girlfriend.

"You are not even old enough to be driving long distances with passengers!"

"You're sounding like Wasabi again." This comparison always had a way of making her mad, but he just had to say it. Just then, more thunder cracked loudly overhead at the same time as the lightening flashed, seemingly setting the mood.

"Hiro," she scowled at him for a fast second before looking back to the road.

"But… when it stops storming, you can drive ahead on your motorcycle—"

"Hiro—"

"And, and then I'll follow behind—" he still had to keep talking, despite her demand for his attention.

"Ryan—"

"So speeding won't be a problem that way!" the teen quickly spit out his last words, finally realizing how mad she was getting.

"Hamada!" It was very likely a good thing she was driving through a storm, because he would most likely be in a world of hurt. Again. All she could do at the moment was glare daggers at him as she shook her finger. "Shut it. Just.. _shut_ it."

Hiro held his unwavering eyes on hers for that fleeting moment she took her eyes off the road. He kept his mouth shut, not because she said so, but because he imagined she was really on edge now from the thunder and lightening.

The genius picked up his tablet again and swept his hair back in thought. He stole another glance at GoGo before kicking his bare feet up on the dash to get comfortable again. He also had a lot of ideas for the truck he wrote down in the tablet that he wanted to do.

One of the things he was renowned for at SFIT was heading an amazingly successfully team for the DARPA Robotics Challenges. This turned out to be the best kind of 'bot fight' for him to get involved in, because all the useful ideas that come from these challenges would help aid people in countries all over the world. Hiro's designs easily put them in the top contenders, and his team's advanced development on artificial intelligence combined with environmental recognition was something the other teams had yet to master. In the back of his mind, he always remembered to thank his older brother for that. It was his programming from Baymax that the genius based many of his innovations from.

Obviously, having his own self driving, autonomous vehicle was his ultimate objective, with a few other useful features too. Not nearly as tricked out as the Batmobile, but just enough to make Fred drool. Transformation into a robot would be going overboard, however. The on-board computer and A.I. would be customized to address safety, of course, but also fun things too. Jet rockets were a must, as those were the Hamada trademark. He also fancied the idea of an invisibility cloak, and lots of secret storage compartments.

The rain became softer and the color of the sky lightened up as they drove out of the storm. He could hear again the beat of the rock music playing from the small speaker attached to his phone. Yep, speakers and a blue-tooth friendly stereo system was another thing the truck needed, since the wiring in the current system had gotten corroded .

The younger Hamada looked sidelong at GoGo to check if she looked more at ease, and then leaned an elbow on top of the flat lid of the cooler that was in between them on the seat. "What kind of things are your friends able to do at their shop?" Hiro thought to ask. She had told him earlier it was a clean operation. They just specialized in a lot of work on cars to enhance their performance and appearance for racing or whatever.

"Everything."

"Everything?"

"Why?" she learned from experience that whatever he had in mind involved much more than anything simple.

"You'll see," he smiled. The teen them lifted the lid of the cooler to get something out. "Hungry?"

* * *

The late afternoon sun hung lower in the sky, threatening to be more of a nuisance as its harsh rays shone brightly into GoGo's eyes. Even her sunglasses or the visor was not enough to block it out totally. The heat of the afternoon combined with the pollution from the stalled traffic made the truck's cabin even more insufferable. But if she had her choosing, she would rather deal with that instead of Hiro's relentless boredom. That boy was extraordinarily annoying when he had nothing to do.

Unfortunately, Los Angeles was also known for its creepy-crawly, massively slow, rush-hour traffic. She hoped they would arrive before 5 o'clock, but due to a handful of circumstances, that didn't happen. The speed queen arrived in city limits during the worse of it. Thusly, she set Hiro to work on mapping out a route that avoided most congested intersections (all the while relishing how much more she preferred travel by bike more than automobile).

"Gah.. the traffic gods _hate_ us," GoGo grumbled, waiting for what felt like forever to get through three consecutive stop lights over the freeway.

"I fail to understand why the left hand turn arrow stays green for only five seconds, while the red lights last for two minutes! Can they see that cycle is causing more cars to back up into the other traffic light?" Hiro protested in agreement, looking back and forth between the two intersections. A couple cars began honking at each other as the impatiently waited for the others to clear the blocked intersection.

"Hey, can you whip up something to remotely switch the lights, Hamada?"

He just looked at her, raising an eyebrow in thought. Yes, traffic signal preemption would be illegal for your regular joe, but not for superheroes. He could provide a perfectly good reason. "Now? No... but, maybe for later?"

Never mind that, however. There was something else that bugged the genius more, and he started off with another one of his fantastic ideas. Just when she thought Fred was bad. "This is proof as to why flying cars would be better! You've seen how it's done in Star Wars. They just stack the airways above each other, lessening this kind of bottle neck effect."

"Don't tell me you want to make this truck fly…."

"Why not? It'll be cool!"

GoGo just snorted again. "This isn't doing anything for our current situation though." She pulled out her phone, attempting a quick text to her friend about the fact that they were sitting ducks. Except she noticed Hiro wagging his finger at her.

"Fine, you text him that we running late," the speed queen tossed he phone to him as she creeped forward a few more feet.

"What's.. _his_ name?" Hiro seemed to catch on to the fact now her friend was a guy. This person was also the boss of the place, from what he heard.

"Jaxson," she kept her eyes on the traffic. "I should have an open text session going with him already."

"Gotcha."

* * *

"Damn… finally here," GoGo breathed after parking the truck in the lot in front of a small looking auto shop. Hiro hopped out, but followed behind for her to approach the building first. It was a stand-alone shop that was kept up well. He just wasn't sure how this was going to start off.

They did not have to go inside before a casually dressed tall African American man had stepped out from inside an open garage area to greet them. "Hey, good seeing ya, Soomin," the slightly muscled mechanic called her by her real name, clapping his dark hand across her shoulder. He also appeared ten or so years older than her, the age more evident in his eyes. His c6urly dark hair was trimmed very short.

"Long time, Jax," GoGo had nodded in agreement. She looked back over to Hiro to acknowledge him. "Let me introduce you to my partner in crime, Hiro Hamada."

"Hi," Hiro also made a mental connection that this must be the person he had texted with earlier. "So.. you're Jaxson?" It was then the teen remembered to reach out and shake his hand.

"Yea, but you can call me Jax," he had softened his expression, smiling more. His dark shining eyes shifted to the classic vehicle behind him. "This must be the truck… wow! I didn't know they still had these around."

"Um, yeah," Hiro followed after him. "My grandpa liked to restore old cars as his past time. It's actually on its second engine."

"And now you're looking into a third," Jax nodded, running his hand on the hood. "Can I take a look?"

"Yeah, um.. just have to unhook the bungees first."

"It needs a lot of work," GoGo piped in, "I am not going to lie!"

"That don't surprise me none. Man, this truck, it must be pushing close to, what.. seventy-five years now. That's old, man. Old!"

"We all took really good care of it," Hiro shrugged, smiling a little more boldly now. It was kind of nice not being introduced right away as 'that insanely smart kid' whose brother died trying to save people. Now he just was that kid with an insanely old but cool truck. He found the two by four under the seat to prop the hood up.

Jax just shook his head at Hiro's effort to get the lumber to sit in the right way. "Aw hell, let's just remove it all together— after you pull 'er into the garage back there."

Hiro glanced over to him, and then the two by four. He tossed it aside just so he could reset the hood back down. "Sure."

Once they got the truck inside, and the hood removed, things started to get interesting. He also met another mechanic who had long, dark hair tied back into a man-bun, and sported a short, trimmed beard. Marcos was his name.

"The engine's just the tip of the iceberg," Hiro told them, scratching the back of his head briefly. "What's the extent of your abilities here?"

"Hmm," Jax raised one of his eyebrows in interest. "What do ya have in mind?"

Hiro just shot a glance to GoGo, then smiled rather cunningly. He grabbed his tablet from the truck's seat and turned it on. "Well, I have a project for you guys."

Hiro did not get very far before someone else walked into the garage area from a side office. "Hey! You finally made it, Zee!" the young woman immediately greeted GoGo first. Zee was her first nickname, because her Korean name sounded a lot like 'zooming'. Zee was a shortened version of it. That was something GoGo had told Hiro, about how Fred came up with her SFIT nickname. Originally it was Tomago, since she liked that egg roll delicacy. 'Go Go' happened to rhyme with it, and that it tied in with the whole speed racer theme. Of course, Fred being Fred, he didn't realize that 'egg roll' was really pronounced 'tamago'.

"God, yes… finally," GoGo agreed with a grumble, acknowledging the equally athletic girl a few inches taller than her. Her friend had a tan complexion with blonde highlights in her dark brown hair, that was pulled up into a ponytail.

"And is he your bae?" she was quick to notice him. Hiro found himself smiling ever so slightly of finally being thought of as someone's 'bae'.

GoGo still shook her head as if still in denial. "Is it that obvious?"

"Oh please! You two have matching highlights in your bangs!" she pushed her friend over to tease her.

Marcos actually had to stifle his laugh at that, cause the look of dismay on both Hiro's and GoGo's faces was just that funny.

"Name's Nat," Natalie finally introduced herself to the teen. Somehow, he could see how this girl could be where GoGo got some of her influence.

"Um, I'm Hiro," he responded in kind, but all the while hesitating on whether to shake her hand since she was a girl. He just smiled, hoping things didn't get anymore awkward.

Nat smiled in return, patting him on the shoulder as she walked past. "Where's AJ?" Nat asked no one in particular.

"Out on a supply run," Marcos told her.

The blonde snorted. "Sure it wasn't a beer run too?"

"For us?" GoGo decided to play along with her jest. "He didn't have to do that!"

"I'd be surprised if he _did_ think about the rest of us!" Marcos shook his head.

"So, what do we got going on here?" Nat finally caught on to the fact she interrupted something, after noticing Jax's disapproving looks.

"This, of course," Marcos bluntly told her, pointing to the truck. She just rolled her eyes at him and crossed her arms.

Jax sighed in response to all this. He just nodded to Hiro to see what he had on the tablet.

"Yeah… I'm also the leading robotics specialist at San Fransokyo Tech, so there's some things here I will be working on exclusively. You don't have to worry about the plans for the on-board computer… or the jet boosters," he explained while activating the holographic view from his tablet so everyone could see.

"Jet.. _what_?" Marcos bend down and stared at the schematics in awe.

"Oh snap, wait.." Nat suddenly looked at him, snapping her fingers. "Were you on that DARPA challenge? Like on Team S.F.I.T.?" She sounded out each of the letters, instead of saying S-Fit like his teammates do.

"Yeah," he nodded, wondering where this was going.

"Now I know where I saw you before! I saw the highlights about the competition on the news awhile ago. Aww, that's really cool! This kid is practically celebrity!" Nat turned to tell the others, getting ever more excited about the reality.

Hiro just nodded, trying to appear modest. He didn't mind the attention, but since he was moonlighting as a superhero as well, he found too much publicity was really not that good. There was a level of trust new people had to earn from him first before he told them much. "I'm just really good at making stuff," he shrugged, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Making _stuff_?" GoGo played with him, even though she knew why.

"Absolutely," Hiro agreed, sticking with that simple explanation.

"This looks like we have a long night to just plan the work," Jax straightened up. "Who's for take-out from the local taco joint?"

"I'm in," Marcos rubbed his hands together. The others followed suit without a moments hesitation.

"Tomorrow night, we can check out that kalbi place, if you want," Nat nudged GoGo.

"It's still there?"

"Yup."

* * *

Even though she had come back to LA over the holidays and other occasions in the past, GoGo realized this was the first real time she really made time to visit with her old friends like this. The irony is that they were not too far removed from her friend's at SFIT. Her friends were more rough around the edges and worked on cars rather that inventions to change the world, but they both shared a basic love of engineering and problem solving. Jax specialized in engines and working on them. Marco and Natalie liked working on the interior modifications, electronics, and things like that, which left AJ in charge of the exterior. He did body work that involved any repairs, modifications, and paint jobs.

That was something that definitely began to unfold itself the more Hiro opened up to explain his ideas. Leave it to the boys to start justifying the need to have magnetized wheel rims, robotic arms, disk throwers, and oil slick guns. GoGo finally had to ask them about which planet they were on when the discussion gravitated towards a cloaking effect or even time travel. It was bad enough in just figuring out the best way to get the old rust bucket to fly!

"So, how old are you again?" AJ asked Hiro, greatly amused by his detailed schematics for hover-craft style jet rockets. The shorter man with short, red-sandy hair finished off his own beer, somewhat eyeing Hiro's unopened one again.

"Seventeen," the younger Hamada told him, even though the topic was discussed earlier. That came up when AJ had offered him a beer along with everyone else, and Hiro hesitated noticeably before taking it. Gogo ended up jabbing the autobody detailer in the side, prompting him to use more common sense. But that's not to say Hiro hadn't tried alcohol before, what with the parties on campus and at Fred's. He just wasn't into it as much as he was his beloved energy drinks.

"Just amazing, man," AJ gave him a thumbs up. That was the tricky thing about Hiro. The genius often acted a lot older than his real age. "Too bad the regular car industry is too up into themselves to want to change their designs like this."

"And after all this, is it still gonna be street legal?" Marcos rubbed his neck.

"It has to be!"

"What's the color going to be?" AJ decided to ask after locating his own tablet.

"Red, or… a metallic blue," Hiro said, but sounding uncertain.

"Ooh, I personally recommend red, maybe in one of these colors," he set the tablet in between while showing some cherry red hues that looked a shade darker than Baymax's color. "With a dragon along here… or black racing stripes?"

"Dragon?"

"Yea, I've got Asian dragon applications," the stout man nodded.

Hiro chuckled. Even though it would be terribly clique, the idea seemed to have grown on him. But even after more recent events, he still had a morbid fascination with fire. "Like.. dragon fire?"

"Firebreather? We got those too," he switched over to different examples on the screen.

"Sweet," Hiro leaned in closer to look. Then the one with a long dragon going down each side of the of the hood caught his eye, only because it was a something different. "Maybe this, in a blended iridescent blue color?"

"Sure thing, man," AJ nodded. "Oh, did you want any added modifications to the body, like spoilers?"

"I'll think about it," an answer that sounded truthful.

"AJ, give it up," Nat felt like teasing him. "You're jealous you're not doing anything cool like we are."

"Who said I was jealous?"

She just batted her eyes at him, then popped the last bite of her taco in her mouth. The blond turned her attentions to Hiro, appearing rather inquisitive now. "So… since we're helping you work on your vehicle, this can't be something for S.F.I.T. or DARPA. Can I ask why you want an EMP device, tazers, and stuff like that? Is this a new project for law enforcement?"

Hiro made brief eye contact with GoGo that seemed to say 'help' before answering. "Um, yeah. You could say that. Just something I'm.. experimenting with. For them."

"He's got rather _unusual_ hobbies," GoGo interjected, in a effort to save Hiro. She hadn't really discussed the fact she played super hero in her free time with her old friends, mostly because it hadn't come up. It didn't really matter to her if they knew. They would be cool about it. But since Hiro seemed to be avoiding the topic, she followed suit.

"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me. Most guys do," Nat snorted before taking a swig of her beer.

"You're still okay with us crashing at your place for a few days, right?" GoGo took the opportunity to change up the topic.

"Shyaa, of course! No problem at all, Zee," she shrugged nonchalantly, only to lean forward to whisper something more. "The same roommate rule still applies: No horizontal tango sessions out where I might happen across 'em, 'kay."

"You know, saying that just increased the odds of it happening now," GoGo said, rather plainly.

"Nooo… spare me!"

"Um, what?" Hiro clearly had been eavesdropping, since whatever Nat had whispered had gotten more of a reaction between them.

"Yeah.. did you say you wanted a new sound system too, Hiro?" she abruptly changed the topic yet again.

"Uh, yes," his answer sounded more like a question, but his eyes shifted suspiciously back and forth between the girls.

* * *

It was a clock, a wall clock somewhere, making that unsettling, loud ticking noise. That, followed with the occasional drip of water that came from the faucet in the kitchen sink. Hiro had figured the water would drip every six minutes and eighteen seconds, give or take a few nanoclicks. His eyes opened again to stare at the strips of light on the ceiling, coming in from the bright street lights outside the window. He just couldn't sleep, no matter what he tried. The room also felt stuffy without a fan, and the faux leather couch made him feel hot and uncomfortable, adding to his misery.

Hiro finally sat up and sighed. His tired eyes looked at the time on his phone, then over to the door to the small office that GoGo was in, again. He really wanted to be with her more than anything. Grabbing his blanket and a pillow, he quietly walked over to the door, then oh-so-slowly turned the door knob to unlatch it before pushing it open. Except the hinges started to squeak, and he froze.

Her form didn't stir. Hiro let out a soft breath, then slid in through the gap, and just as silently closed the door behind him. The teen knelt down on the foam mat GoGo slept on, taking a moment to look at her in the faint street light coming in through the window. The blanket covered her, except for her shoulder. She wore just her white tank top, no bra. Gogo looked so strong and beautiful, and this way, so peaceful. Hiro placed his pillow, then lay down so that he was looking at her face. He entertained the thought of caressing her cheek, even kissing her, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Part of him wondered if she would wake up and punch him because he startled her.

"What's wrong?" she muttered instead, her eyes still closed.

Hiro froze again and it took him another second to respond. "I.. can't sleep."

"Why?"

"Just can't."

"You need a lullaby?" she teased him, her glistening eyes meeting his dark ones.

"No…" Hiro whispered, finally reaching up with his free hand to touch the softness of her cheek. "Just a kiss good night."

"Whatever… but no noises, okay, nerd?" she smiled slightly, reminding him of the fact that Natalie's room was right next to this one with just a thin wall separating them.

He rolled his eyes at that. He wasn't really thinking of going that far anyway, especially here. The thought was pretty tempting, however, just to see if they could.

Hiro moved in to kiss, starting soft and slow while his speed queen wrapped her arms around his shoulders and neck to kiss him more deeply. That was another thing he loved, she was really good at kissing. GoGo pulled him in closer, seemingly wanting more as her leg wrapped around his, but broke away to breathe into his neck. He could feel her heart pounding now, along with his own. He also loved the smell of her hair, and closed his eyes to swallow his mounting desire. God, he loved her so much, and he ached in knowing she wanted him too.

"Can I sleep with you?" he whispered, skimming a hand down her side to touch the barren skin under her shorts.

GoGo just looked at him, not resisting his touch or saying anything right away. She knew his request wasn't entirely for intimate reasons. In the past, Hiro had struggled with nightmares and anxiety a lot. But he found that when he slept with her, he did not have them so much.

"I'll go back out to the couch in the morning," Hiro was barely audible as he brought his left arm up around her neck and shoulders.

"Right," GoGo didn't believe him, but she did not make any attempt to move from their close position.

Hiro just sighed, caressing her soft, smooth skin on her back under her tank top with his right hand again. He finally closed his eyes in an attempt to sleep, but his random worrisome thoughts cropped up once more. The most pressing one was if she still wanted to be with him after college. He did not know how to ask that, without sounding awkward.. or like a proposal.

"Really, what is it?" she finally lifted her head to ask, now more concerned about his restlessness. He wasn't going to make out with her, but he hadn't gone to sleep yet either.

If only she knew just how complicated he felt about her sometimes. But rather than go into that, he responded with a more safe topic. "New project, new jitters," the robotics engineer shrugged.

GoGo just made a noise of understanding.

"And.. just wondering about next year… when you and Honey Lemon graduate," the younger Hamada decided maybe he could address it that way. Wasabi already graduated this year, but said he might stick around to get a PhD or something. Provided another school elsewhere didn't fancy Wasabi's talents. As for himself, he still wasn't totally sure. All of his teammates knew graduating from SFIT would change the future of their super hero team. Fred said he can make whoever was sticking around into SHIELD agents. If they were up for that.

Hiro had so many offers and leads from other interested parties, it was crazy. He even had Tony Stark himself telling him what to do. The billionaire was not impressed with his involvement with DARPA, however. Primarily because he said anything with the government results in nothing good. Eventually, all their intentions accumulate into creating the best defense systems to intimidate the other countries. There was some truth in that… some of Einstein's best work resulted in the production of the world's worse weapon. Hiro had Einstein's potential, he was told by his advisors. There were days that reality hit him hard, and he worried who he could really trust and believe anymore.

All the more reason why he appreciated GoGo's friendship. She kept him real through all this.

"I don't think I'll be going back to LA," she reassured him that much. "But.. not sure what I'll be doing, really."

"I could find something for you… since being an agent for SHIELD didn't rev your engines," the genius rolled more on his back, after loosing the feeling from poor circulation in his left arm.

She just snorted, also adjusting herself into a more comfortable position into the crook of his arm.

A few long seconds passed, neither one of the talking. Then Hiro finally drew a breath before looking at her. "Am I doing the right thing… with the truck?"

"As in…?"

"Just… is it a good idea? Or will this make it harder to keep it secret that we are superheroes?" he turned his head to study her expression.

GoGo groaned, "Now you're worried about that?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, as long as your truck doesn't try to take over the whole tristate area, what's there to worry about?" she explained, with an added hand gesture.

"Hey, Mega-Z got more temperamental because of _you_ ," Hiro protested.

"Excuses."

"Actually… I'm more worried about the superhero thing," his tone instead became softer and more serious. "Should.. we tell them?"

GoGo rose up on her elbow to look at him again. "That's up to you, really."

"I guess the question is… are they people we can trust?"

Gogo pursed her lips, looking at him more sternly. "I told you, they don't deal with gangs anymore. Jax is above that now."

Hiro quickly nodded, really not wanting to start into that again.

"What does your gut tell you?"

He sighed, understanding her point. He soon as just not trust anyone, just to play it safe, because being able to read people was not a skill he was very good at. "I still rather play it safe," Hiro exhaled, releasing his tension.

"Your call."

He wrapped his left arm back around her shoulders, trying to relax his body again.

"Good night, genius," she lifted herself slightly to kiss Hiro on his lips, bringing a hand across the stubble of his sparse five o'clock shadow. He was captivated again by her playfulness, tasting her mouth as he intertwined his fingers through her tousled hair.

"Good night too," he broke for a second to return his wish, only to kiss her some more.

* * *

Three days had gone by quickly already, but not a whole lot of work was done on the truck just yet since they were waiting on parts and other supplies to come in.

To help pass the time, Natalie took Gogo and Hiro sight seeing to some places. Jax's shop was on the south side of LA, which gave them no excuse to spend one evening checking out the area by Hollywood, only because Hiro never been there before. Surprisingly. He only seen Disneyland when he was younger.

Nat and Marcos insisted on a trip to Long Beach the following day. The midday heat was getting really hot, and they claimed it was too hot to keep the garage cool enough to work. Hiro admitted to not being used to that, after how much cooler San Fransokyo is, being on the coast up north. Jax let them the day off since their was not much work that he needed them for that afternoon. The two guys rode in Nat's car, while GoGo and Hiro trailed after on her motorcycle. She personally thought that was one of her best ways to stay cool.

Once they found a spot in the crowded beach, AJ and Marcos ventured off to leaving Nat, GoGo, and Hiro to lounge in the shade under a big orange umbrella. Occasionally, a cool breeze from the ocean would give them some relief from the heat.

GoGo grinned slightly after noticing how pale Hiro looked in comparison to the rest of them. He really wasn't much of an outside person when he wasn't dressed up in full superhero armor. It actually surprised her that Hiro had brought along a pair of swim trunks. "Need help with the sunscreen?" she asked, watching him rub some on his shoulders.

He nodded, handing the bottle over to her. "I'm half vampire… so gotta maintain my delicate beauty," he told Natalie. He wasn't that pale, but he didn't look very dark anywhere either.

She laughed once, then laid back on her towel, resting on her elbows. The blonde was nicely tanned and wore a bikini made with a shimmering silver material.

"You mean your 'nerd status'?" GoGo teased him. She found herself subconsciously taking inventory of the handful of small scars on his back and shoulders, some of the occupational hazards from their superhero work. The young leader had been shot a couple times, stabbed, and been burnt slightly on his side from an explosion. She had a couple scars of her own, but not as many as Hiro. He just blamed it all on his tendency to be accident prone.

"Yes..no... shut up," he muttered, taking the bottle back from her.

GoGo wore dark green, board shorts and a black bikini top. The thin design tattooed around the middle of her thigh was visible now, as well as the ones on her upper arm.

"Is that one new?" Nat asked, noticing a round design in front of her left shoulder. It was a black double right tomoe, placed inside a five-petal flower design, to look like a Japanese family crest.

"Yeah… it was in memory of a friend," GoGo nodded. That was the story she felt safe giving, as its meaning was much deeper than that. It was for Tadashi, but it also was to remind her how her friends formed Big Hero 6 for his sake.

Nat nodded, her eyes watching the people pass by them.

"I'm thinking about getting one too.. when I turn eighteen," Hiro added his thought, perhaps to redeem his macho status.

GoGo and Nat both looked to him, seemingly intrigued. Or more like, Natalie was the one caught off guard. GoGo knew the genius wanted one before, especially after she got the crest. He just couldn't bring himself to ask Aunt Cass for a permission slip, since he was underage. In that event, he felt it just would've been easier to ask for forgiveness after getting the tattoo rather than to ask for permission .

"Sure you can handle it? It is a needle that they use to get the ink under your skin," GoGo felt the need to tease him anyway. He had a huge fear of needles a couple years ago. Baymax did wonders in helping him get over it, but he still wasn't entirely comfortable with the pointy things.

"Positively!" the teen huffed, and then pointed to a couple small hoops in his left ear. He also had a matching set of black small gauge piercings on both ears. "I got these things in okay."

"Not without nearly breaking my hand, and then almost fainting," GoGo stated, matter of factly. It still amused her how much Hiro tried so hard to look like a rebel, rather than the smart, young prodigy he really was.

"Really?" Nat was doing her best to no laugh at the poor boy. "I thought I was going to die after I got this," she stuck her tongue out to show them the barbell rod stuck through it.

Hiro smiled nervously, nodding. Of course, 'woman up' brought a whole new level of meaning all over again. So much for trying to look tough in the face of others.

"But.. it was well worth the 'benefits'. Once you figure out how talk again," Nat pushed the ball end of the rod against her two top teeth, circling it around slowly.

GoGo groaned, catching her subliminal hint. She happened to glance over to Hiro, who also seemed to be making the connection. He made eye contact with his girlfriend, bobbing his eye brows and bringing up the corner of his mouth in a quirky smile. Lord only knows what kind of crazy ideas he could be cooking up now.

"Dream on, nerd," she punched him in the arm. Regardless, it was a fascination she secretly savored a moment longer until they heard Marcos approaching.

"Aw man, give it up AJ. She was not flirting with you," Marcos groaned, AJ just a couple steps behind him.

"But she liked my sunglasses!"

"Yeah, she just liked your sunglasses… not you!"

"So you're the dating expert now?"

"Really guys?" Nat finally interjected, only because they were starting to get ridiculous.

"No, this is important!" Marcos knelt down next to the blonde, flashing her a knowing smile. "Dude has to know how to find the right lady."

"Like I don't know? Please… " he spread out his towel again before sitting on it. "At least I race better than you!"

GoGo only rolled her eyes at them. Those two were like brothers, but they were also rather competitive and tried to find ways to outsmart each other. She could tell that Nat and Marcos must be, or had been, close at one point, just by the way they interacted.

"Are you challenging me?" Marcos looked over to AJ, clearly not going to let him have the last word.

"Hey, can it!" Nat growled at Marcos. All she wanted was a relaxing time at the beach, not more macho drama.

They held their tongues a moment longer, possibly pondering whatever they would do next, before AJ braved to speak his next thought. "I heard there's a race scheduled on the south side of downtown tonight."

"Outstanding."

"Maybe we should check it out. Big Tony's in charge of this one." Tony was one of Jax's old friends, when their gang used to race exclusively. Now they had pretty much disbanded for better lifestyles.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," the stout redhead nodded. He turned to dig a can of pop from their little cooler. "Ooh, hey, you ever been to a street race, Hiro?"

"No.. not really," he shook his head. The kind of races he had been in were of a whole different purpose, however. "Just bot fights."

"We should go! Is it too late to enter?" Marcos finally agreed.

"Aww no, you guys are gonna have to clear that by Jax first," Nat had to remind them.

"It's by Big Tony.. he won't have a problem with this one," AJ reasoned with them. The races are never legal, but at least Tony picks routes that don't attract nearly as much attention from the police.

* * *

Hiro was strapped in on the passenger side of AJ's orange Nissan 240, looking across the sharp detailed hood to the blue and neon green rear end of Marcos' modified Ford Mustang GT350 in front of them. They just limited themselves to the two cars, while the others stayed on the side lines. Hiro wanted to drive a car too, since they did have one to spare, but Jax and GoGo were not comfortable with the idea. They felt the young genius had too much of his future at sake, in case they did have a run in with the authorities.

Marcos, AJ, and Hiro also wore headsets so they could communicate with each other, and with Gogo and Nat. Nat also was manning a drone with a camera to follow after them during the race. There was another drone manned by Big Tony's crew also to keep an eye out for any cops. It was well after one o'clock in the morning, but the energy was high in the crowd that gathered.

Hiro watched the crowds impatiently, a little envious again that he didn't get to drive. His past record with the police involved bot fights and other similar instances, not street racing. It's not like he would be able to come up with some viable reason as an undercover 'something' to clear his name if he happened to get caught.

There were five cars total in this race, running up the stakes. As soon as the call was made to start, the deafening sound of engines roaring to life filled the air. It was followed with the sound of tires peeling out as the pack took off down the one way road. Many other gang members and their cars had blocked the cross intersections along the street so the racers had a clear unobstructed route for the first part.

"Yeh baby, you ain't getting this!" AJ yelled indirectly to the drivers around him as he maneuvered ahead of the pack. Marcos teased him earlier that since he was so good, he should take on Hiro as his passenger since Natalie wasn't going to ride with them. AJ protested that would be a weight handicap. Yet the seasoned mechanic reasoned that if he was that good, this shouldn't be a problem. At which Hiro tried to settle the debate by saying he didn't weigh all that much anyway.

Hiro hung onto the handle above the window as they sharply cornered through a couple sharp turns. AJ pumped at the clutch and shifted through the gears in such a smooth manner, the robotics engineer was secretly impressed. His shifting skill was something he wanted to improve on, since he hadn't drove cars with stick shifts that much yet. All the different displays on AJ's dash also kept taking his eyes away from the race action as he quickly figured out what they were for.

They dodged through some light traffic where the road wasn't blocked off anymore, only to be caught off guard by a long semi truck just sitting catty-corner in the middle of the next intersection. He looked like he was turning left from the right side of the intersection, but he was not moving now.

"Damn, what is up with that?" AJ asked out loud.

" _Aw, hell no_ …" Marcos grumbled over his comm.

The others took that as a question needing an answer. "A roadblock from oncoming traffic. And an obstacle for you guys," Nat explained.

"Hey… you always wanted a convertible, Marcos!"

" _Not this way!_ " Marcos swore, and then hung a sharp right to literally drive on the sidewalk to get around the trailer.

The Honda Civic ahead of them made it under, but not without sending a spray of sparks everywhere.

"You can clear it," Hiro told AJ.

"You sure…?"

"Absolutely," he said, very certain. He wasn't going to bore him with the height details, but he just knew there wasn't going to be a problem since this was a truck carrying a freight line cargo box for barges. They sat much higher than normal semis, and his Nissan was not very tall.

AJ gunned it to soar underneath, while the car behind them came to screeching halt when its driver suddenly changed his mind.

"Whoo.. That's nuts!" AJ spun the wheel through another turn. "Good thing I got you with me, eh?"

"Something tells me this is not going to be a typical race."

"Nope… Looks like Tony decided to pull some crazy shit!"

"Like jumping a bridge under construction?" Hiro pointed as the lead car barreled through some orange barricades up ahead of them. Only part of the bridge was torn down, but it was still a big gap.

"Uhm, yeah…" AJ eyes widened for a moment. He then looked to his dash to flip a few switches to activate some nitro tanks. A display screen lit up, indicating that they were ready. "Hang on!"

The car suddenly rocketed forward when the nitro boost kicked in, and Hiro literally fell back into his seat from the surge. Of course, he was glancing nervously at the miles per hour on the speedometer, the distance of the gap, and mentally ran the velocity calculations in his head a number of times to reassure himself they would clear it. Because if they didn't, it would not be pretty.

"Oh yeah!" AJ cheered as soon as they went airborne. "It's not really flying, but it's close!"

"Yeah," Hiro agreed, trying to not white knuckle it too much as they soared over the wide concrete drainage ditch.

"Winners clear it… suckers aim for the ditch.. but the losers crash and burn!" the skilled driver quickly explained, before hitting hard on the other side. Once the car had traction, he made a hard turn right onto a rough path of dirt and gravel.

"What is this?"

"They're tearing up old train tracks to later turn it into a bike pat—"

"Watch out!" Hiri chirped, suddenly seeing a parked back hoe appear. The car ahead was making lots of dust clouds making it harder to see in the dark.

AJ dodged left, sliding in the loose surface as they barely avoided the construction equipment. "Nice.."

" _The ditch is dry!_ " Marcos chimed in, " _and I'm gonna cut in on you losers!_ "

"Aww, no... you took the ditch?"

" _It'll work! The waters dried up,_ " Marcos insisted.

" _No, its not, doof. Stay over to your left before you flood out your engine_!" GoGo told him over the comm-links. The red and green flashing lights of their drone hovered high overhead.

"Good luck getting out of there," AJ further teased his wreckless teammate, swerving around a large trash bin full of rail road refuse.

" _Shut up, fool!"_ Marcos barked back.

Hiro sighed, keeping his death grip on the handle above his head. He could barely see what was ahead of them in the dust from the lead car. It amazed him AJ still kept the pace despite the dust. "Whose the Civic in the lead?"

"That's Rhoady, from the Wolfpack gang. He's a tough one to beat… but if you do, then he'll be sure to give you a beating afterwards. Especially if you aren't one of his people."

"I take it you're not going to pass him." From his past experiences with Yama's gang, Hiro knew where he was coming from on that.

"Nope," AJ nodded. "I'm here to beat Marcos.. like a drum!"

" _No way. Ain't gonna happen_!"

"Shut up!"

"Actually, I probably would have beaten both of you guys," Hiro decided to tease both of them, just to throw them off on purpose.

"Noo."

" _Was that a dare?_ " Marcos also asked.

" _Guys, focus_!" Jax finally told them off. " _You're coming up on the homestretch, and the fuzz are getting restless._ "

"Right…" AJ muttered, taking a sharp turn as his car drifted sideways off the dirt, and over more rough terrain before getting back on a road. It lead to a bridge that took them back over the ditch.

Marcos' blue Mustang throttled in front, cutting them off from their lead. " _Eat this_!"

Hiro scrunched his face in contempt of that move.

"Not if I can help it!" AJ protested.

The young prodigy looked down at AJ's complex dashboard again, eyeing the panel that showed how many available nitro tanks he had left. There was one last set left for the end of the race. Hiro spied a screwdriver on the floor, and grabbed it to pop parts of the plastic trim off to get access to the wiring below.

"Whoa… hey, whaterya doing?" the driver gave him a shifty glance.

"Changing up your amphage," Hiro spoke through the screw driver in his mouth as he picked out some wires and unplugged them. "Don't make any sudden moves."

"What?"

The teen took the tool from his mouth and covered the speaker on his headset so the others would not hear his explanation . "Hold off on the nitro… I'm giving it more power."

"Uh, okay.. just don't unplug something important..."

"Probably should wait to use the nitro boost at the very end… just in case it drains the battery," Hiro moved the speaker of his headset away from his mouth altogether, before finished up the wiring.

"What.. no!" he was looking back and forth between the road and Hiro.

"You want to win, right?" Hiro asked. He had a wicked smile on his face as he pushed the display screen back in.

AJ just snorted. Because of this distraction, he was starting to fall further behind Marcos. The stretch of road they were on had also been blocked along the sides again by the cheering gang members. The finish line was coming up fast.

"This better not blow my engine too!" AJ shot the kid one more glance as he punched his nitro button.

"It shou—" he was cut short when the sudden kick from the boost threw Hiro deep into his seat.

AJ swore loudly while gripping tightly only the wheel as they rocketed past Marcos. Fortunately, it lost steam by the time they drew close to Rhoady's Civic.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Hiro nodded.

AJ still had to break in an effort to slow down more by the time he crossed the finish line so that the other car kept the lead. He really did not feel like getting into a tangle with Rhoady right now.

"Thanks, buddy," AJ held his hand up for a high five from Hiro. He promptly returned the gesture.

" _Oh c'mon, AJ… you don't have the balls to beat Rhoady too? You had both of us_!" Marcos immediately teased his friend for holding back.

"Priorities. _Priorities,_ brah," AJ simply replied, steering his car closer to the others.

" _How did you end up fourth_?" Nat finally asked Marcos.

* * *

A couple more days had passed since, and they at last completed the biggest project that garage had encoutered. There was nothing that could compare to that giddy mixed with nervous feeling he got whenever Hiro completed something new. The rookie genius drove his shiny, 'new' truck out onto the street for the first time since they completely upgraded it. He also thought about naming the truck Tankishi, which was Japanese for 'spitfire'. AJ teased him by thinking it mean 'tank'. The word was actually pronounced 'tan-ki-shi', the 'n' almost silent. Hiro even protested that his truck was not even that big, but compared to many of the more moder vehicles... yes, it looked like a small tank. Then GoGo mentioned how it also sounded like another name, and Hiro gave up on the debate. He went with the English name 'Spitfire', event though their nickname 'Tank' still prevaled.

It was early that Saturday afternoon, when the traffic would be much lighter. Hiro did not realize how much he got used to the hilliness of San Fransokyo, because he still would have moments of weird from how flat the streets of LA were in comparison. GoGo went along with him too, mostly to help just in case something went haywire. Hiro also concluded some things would have to wait until he got home before he tested the ideas he had for the hills and even flying.

He had come to stop at a light that was in a more urban part of town. His attention span was pretty much focused on calibrations, so when GoGo made an observation about a person with a gun walking up to a silver sport coupe a couple cars ahead of them, he couldn't believe his luck. When the tall man dressed in leather pants and other dark clothing broke out the window to further threaten the driver, Hiro immediately switched his mental gears into superhero mode.

"Damn, he means business!" GoGo remarked, her hand on the door handle as she hesitated on whether to jump out to go after him.

In less than a minute, the car jacker hauled out the frightened man in his fifties and took off in the silver Mercedes.

"Wait, stay inside" Hiro told her, thinking it would be better to chase after him in his truck.

"I can keep better track of him!" she protested.

Hiro looked at her, working his jaw in thought. Sometimes it bugged him that she often would have the better ideas. GoGo had a point this time, however, since she could go as fast as a car and weave in between the other vehicles. "Okay, yeah, you keep track of his location."

While the truck was stopped, she unlatched her seat belt and stepped out. In the same motion, the speed queen reached up with both hands to pinch a sequence of buttons on her supersuit harness in front of her shoulders. That action activated her suit to flow out from under her shirt, as small nanobots formed the armor. It was much more advanced in its design now. What used to be fabric was replaced with smooth black, lightweight chain mail. She also had yellow, bikini style armor and accompanying the black armor plating was glowing red pin-striping along the edges, covering her thighs to guard against road rash better. Her boots, gauntlets, and disks were still their classic yellow color though. At the moment, her disks were combined together like a shield on her back, much like how Captain America carried his.

"See ya!" Gogo told him before dashing off in the direction of where the car went.

"Hey, we're going after your car, sir!" he called out to the man, and then rolled up the window. "C'mon, outta my way, people!"

Hiro flashed his headlights at the small car in front of him until he was able to edge around it. Of course, GoGo had an advantage over his truck already, because she could easily navigate around all this traffic. Yes, even Baymax remained his 'vehicle' of choice in these situations. Finally, Hiro was able to turn right once a lane was clear enough. "Where'd they go? We have to catch up with him!" he asked both GoGo and his truck.

" _Believe it or not, I lost him too_."

"Why are you following him?" Spitfire prompted, his voice was smooth and resonating. It was deeper sounding than Baymax, with a slight Scottish accent to it. That had been Fred's idea, when the curious fanboy had started a video chat with him the other night.

"Because we are superheroes, and helping people in trouble is what we do."

"The man who needs help is on the sidewalk."

Hiro groaned, telling himself to stay calm. Of course, it being the first time for Spitfire meant lots more explanations so the learning A.I. would understand what is going on now so it could respond better for the next time.

"Spitfire, helping that man means getting his stolen car back! Now where did the car jacker go?" Hiro had mapped over Baymax's original ability to scan and identify each human being's DNA makeup for Spitfire also, a detail that came in handy for tracking any questionable humans they have come in close proximity with.

"Triangulating his position in relation to you," Spitfire complied as he zoomed in the coordinates on the map showing on the dashboard screen.

"Did you get that?" Hiro asked GoGo, as he had also built in transparent view screens into the visors for all his teammates.

" _Got it."_

The truck, on the other hand, remained at the legal driving speed. Hiro decided to get his supersuit on now, before it got any crazier. Well, once he could get his seat belt off.

"It is not safe to remove your seatbelt when the vehicle is in motion."

"I have to take it off! My super suit will wrap around it!"

His truck still did not comply.

"Spitfire!"

"You will not be safe."

" _Do they all start out this dumb_?" GoGo had to ask the boy genius after hearing this latest exchange with the truck. Hiro flat out ignored her.

"We need to stop that car jacker, for everyone else's safety!" Hiro still tugged at his belt. Then suddenly the latch released, causing him to over exaggerate that motion of removing the strap. He promptly activated his super suit by pressing specific buttons on both sides of his watch. Small pieces of black and indigo colored plating flowed out from under his shirt collar to cover over his body, arms, and legs to form into solid armor. Hiro pulled off his watch next so that it could morph into his indigo-colored helmet. The mirrored visor activated with an enhanced view screen that displayed a translucent view of the city streets. This was connected with Spitfire's output, showing him his exact location from where the car jacker was.

"Whoa!" Hiro suddenly gripped the wheel, feeling the G forces from a sharp turn that Spitfire took without making any effort to break when the truck turned right. "Okay, okay… getting it back on. But let me do the driving," he quickly latched the seat belt again.

Hiro stepped on the gas to go faster just to catch up, but the gas pedal was fixed. He could not go faster. "Spitfire, really? I'll never catch him like this!"

"The posted speed limit is 40 miles per hour."

"The police will understand. We _need_ to go faster!"

"It is not safe."

"Unbelievable," Hiro breathed. The idea for safety protocols sounded good at first, but now it was worse than Wasabi at his best. This had to go.

"I gotta fix this," he pulled over to the curb to stop the truck, determined to still make this work in his favor.

" _Still trying to cut the ass off - not having luck finding a clear shot. He's trying to shoot at me_!" GoGo added her report.

"Just a sec… I'll be after him.." Hiro had already popped off the panel on the display of the console. With the combination of finger print and voice recognition, he typed in some codes to override the safe driver protocols. Just until he could get back to the garage and tweak the programming.

Once the override was completed, the teen grabbed the gearshift and popped the clutch a little too quickly. The vehicle roughly lurched forward a couple of times before he got it into the correct gear. There was a few blocks in between him and the other guy now, but if he stepped on it he could catch up.

With him in full control of driving, the super genius had to think more about shifting the gears as well as the action ahead of him. He went with a system that had manual gears on the truck, just because GoGo said it was just better. That it added to the thrill in feeling more connected with the mechanics of the vehicle. The sound and feel of the engine, the motions between the gear shift and the clutch, and that pause and release between the pedals... all that did sound cool. Once he focused on the timing, the quickness of his reflexes became more natural and smooth.

"There you are," he spotted the Mercedes. Hiro did not see GoGo though. Maybe she was staying out of sight on purpose. A stop light was ahead, and the traffic was more congested. The silver car seemed to realize the problem that the traffic presented, and took another abrupt right turn into a parking lot for a shopping center.

"Where are you, GoGo?"

A couple long seconds passed before she responded. " _Behind you. Cops are closing in_."

As soon as she finished her sentence, Hiro heard a loud thump from his truck bed. She must have performed some acrobatics to jump in.

" _Let me in,_ " she tapped on the back window. Hiro reached up to touch a button on the ceiling for it to start rolling down, which was something Nat suggested he should add during their modifications.

"Trying to lay low because of the cops," GoGo briefly explained. Hiro could only imagine that was probably because the LAPD most likely were not familiar with their form of vigilante assistance.

It was then the thief realized he was being followed by the unusual red truck again, and picked up the pace considerably. The two weaved through traffic, causing some cars to honk and slam on their brakes in surprise.

"Soft guidance system enabled," Spitfire let him know the extra function to pilot around obstacles was activated upon detection of the hazardous driving. It may not prevent a collision all together, but at least it helped him navigate better.

"Spitfire, perform a TSP on the lights to turn them green," Hiro added, scanning the ahead lights that had been green for awhile. He wanted to make sure the signals stayed green by the time they got to them. For the safety of others, at least.

"Done."

Regardless of that, the Mercedes abruptly hung a left turn, causing the car he cut off to careen into another car in the other lane. The signal switch was just for the main green lights, but he wasn't able to control left turn signals. Yet.

 _"Shit,_ hang on!" Hiro did his best to downshift while breaking, causing his truck to fish tail wide. The big truck drifted sideways, right into on-coming traffic. Fortunately, the two cars coming at him were able to maneuver around while the others had stopped.

"C'mon! Go, go, go!" he said more to himself while quickly working through the gears to catch up to the silver coup again. Sirens were echoing everywhere as more police cars poured in from different streets in pursuit after them now.

"The police want us to stop," Spitfire stated the obvious.

"Of course they do. But we got this!" Hiro felt he had more of the upper hand that the cops did.

The driver in the Mercedes, on the other hand, really wanted to lose all this attention he was attracting. He darted down an alleyway, because alleyways apparently are a requirement for every car chase. This sent the red truck into another drifting fishtail, clipping one of the buildings they were going in between. Hiro winced, knowing that was something else he had to take care of later.

The connections of back roads lead into an alley that led into a parking garage. One of the police cars followed after him, while the others were heading off to the other exit to block it. Going up the ramps in a hurry caused him to slip gears a couple of times, causing the truck to stall.

"No, no, no!" Hiro groaned on the second time whe had to restart the engine on the fly. But GoGo didn't take over this time, as she often did.

"Keep your foot on the break, and then start giving it more gas when you feel the clutch grab, okay? Just stay calm… focus on downshifting instead of breaking.. you got this," GoGo told him, putting a hand on top of his on the gear shift. She was definitely trying harder at putting more faith in his abilities this time, which came as a real boost for his confidence.

"Thanks…" Hiro kept his eyes locked on the silver coupe, following her guidance on shifting. "Can you disk him again?"

"Maybe. It'll cause damage to the car," GoGo frowned. "Can you use your tech?"

"Maybe…"

Tires squealed as the car jacker pushed the Mercedes as to its maximum limits at this point. Both vehicles fishtailed sideways into drifting position around the turns as they sped around the corners, their tires smoking as they did. And a couple instances, the barely visible blur of a disk aimed low had tried to blow out a tire.

Habitually, the laws of physics began running through Hiro's mind as he maneuvered his truck up through the levels of the parking garage. Simply, an object in motion would stay in motion as long as it continued accelerating in a straight line. The kinematics of forcing the vehicles to change coordinates and velocity as they turned around the corner greatly affected their ability to maintain their high level of acceleration. The forces of inertia also made that apparent. But if he could introduce a different variable to affect the way the Mercedes accelerated away from him, it would certainly give him the upper hand.

"Activate the EMPs," Hiro told Spitfire, deciding to test these first. There were two modified electromagnetic pulse ray-guns located under the headlights. He limited the width of the emission so it resembled a beam of light. It traveled a limited distance and was more concentrated so he could better aim it at particular targets. Just in case, he shielded his own engine and on-board computer from any kickback.

 _"Fire!"_ Hiro ordered, just when the silver coupe slowed through another turn ahead of them. That opened a small window for Spitfire to aim the EMP rays at the Mercedes' engine. However, they must have hit the back end of the vehicle, because the car did not falter.

Unfortunately, they were on the roof now with nowhere to go but back down. Hiro knew that may not to be an option, what with all of the cops waiting for them down there. The one behind Hiro remained glued to his bumper, giving reason for the Mercedes to keep going.

At this point, it became obvious the thief was more apprehensive about being caught rather than having a nice car to drive. The silver coupe floored it hard and fast enough to bust through the cement wall.

"He did not!" Gogo also could not believe it.

"He did..." Hiro imagined that the car was aiming for the rooftop of a building next to them. Yet, he was secretly thrilled that this happened because it meant he could test out his jet rocket boosters. "Spitfire, prepare to fly!"

"Seriously?!"

"Seriously!" Hiro echoed again, this time grinning like a madman. This would be perfect to test out the jet rockets. What he also remembered from the race with AJ when they jumped the ditch, it would be at least falling with style if they didn't work. He also gave Spitfire an added nitro boost and floored it just as they reached the edge. Once airborne, the wheels folded under to be replaced with glowing blue, jet rockets. The jets in the back were larger, providing more forward thrust combined with the momentum. The red truck managed to hold altitude for a few seconds before dropping quickly and scraping along the top if the flat roof of the building before hovering back upwards again. Hiro made yet another mental note to adjust the mass and energy equation on that.

Their tag-a-long cop wasn't as brave to take the plunge, however, and stopped right at the edge of the platform.

Of course, Hiro was conflicted with the surprise that the roof hadn't collapsed completely from a car landing on it, although it did show damage. The Mercedes was still pressing forward - off the roof and onto the adjacent building! The thief stayed aligned to the roof edge and not in the middle, where it would be weaker.

"Since when did rooftop stunt driving become a thing?!" Hiro muttered. At least though, being in flight mode meant no gear shifting. This made it easier for him to keep up, and he didn't have to worry about falling through the roof. But that didn't lessen the chance of the other guy crashing through, or falling off!

"We gotta stop this guy, before people get hurt," GoGo told him. But that was something he already knew.

"Hit him with both the EMP's and the tazer hooks, Spitfire!" Hiro ordered.

Spitfire shuttled within range to aim the beams while two torpedo hooks on electrified wiring shot out from two portals on the front bumper.

At the same time, a call came in from the autobody shop. Hiro groaned, because now really wasn't a good time at all. He also had his phone connected to Spitfire on the dash, so of course the robot had answered it for him.

"What are you guys _doing?"_ Natalie's voice asked them. He and GoGo could only exchange glances.

"Hi, um.. still running some tests.. I'll get back with you in a minute!" he quickly explained, which really was not any further from the truth.

"Honestly, Hiro," her voice continued. "We know you're chasing that guy. You're all over the news!"

 _Wonderful,_ he thought. But he couldn't be distracted by that now.

The torpedoes had penetrated the back bumper, immediately slowing down the sport coupe. These were used to stop the vehicle more than to harm the driver. As soon as the thief realized he couldn't go any further, he jumped out of the c ar.

"Foot chase!" Hiro whipped off his seat belt. "Stay here, Spitfire."

"Are you guys… _super heroes?"_ the questions still persisted.

"You could say that. Bye!"

The young superhero dug his feet into the rocky surface of the flat roof as he took chase. GoGo had taken pursuit with her foot disks still on her back this time, since the rocky surface would make it hard to blade.

This building dropped down a level, a few yards ahead of them. It was a significant drop that the thief did not want to jump himself. He located a maintenance ladder and slung himself down that. GoGo was more accustomed to parkour stunts, and crouched low and jumped down in such a way so she could stick the landing without injury.

The only way off this building was a door going down into the building off by the far corner. Hiro also doubted this guy could actually jump the space in between buildings. Either way, they weren't going to let the big guy have any of those options.

GoGo threw the smaller disk from her wrist at the man's knees to bring him down, while Hiro kept running after him.

The thief stumbled and resisted his downfall. Despite his clumsy footing in the rocks, the man kept running. His hand fumbled for something as he fell backwards, and then finally held out the gun pointed at Hiro.

It was practically like second nature now. The instant Hiro saw him get his thick finger on the trigger, he knew he meant business. His electromagnetic force field came up in time to deflect the bullet. Flashes of orange sparked along the translucent surface a couple more times until the criminal realized trying to shoot at him was useless.

In that moment of awe as the man stared at his shield in disbelief, Hiro kicked the gun from his hand.

"I guess you don't see too many like us," Hiro remarked, deactivating his shield.

He shook his head, crawling backwards in the rocks as if to make another attempt to get away. It struck Hiro how familar the thug looked, and then it finally clicked. The armor -clad hero breifly looked up to notice a few cops busting out of the roof-access door to come for them.

"Are you.. Rhoady?" Hiro grabbed his arm to keep him from running. AJ had pointed out the notorius gang member to hIm after the race they were in a few days ago. Despite the hat and the sunglasses, it was the same fair-skinned guy with a buzz cut and a sandy-colored goatee. They didn't sat anything about him being a gang leader, but he still carried rank. Regardless, the young hero never thought he would actually be running into him like this again.

The well-build man shook his head, swearing at him as he resisted his capture. It had to be Rhoady.

Hiro made the magnetic port on his palm glow a bright blue with an electromagnetic charge as he fisted it and held it up to the angry man. "I won this one, give it up!"

"Never!" he spat out, wresting his arm free. His head turned as he looked around to other distractions around them, lIke the cops or his thrown gun.

Hiro glanced upward also, finally spotting a small drone very likely used by a roving news reporter somewhere. He almost told GoGo to take it out, but that would have caused more trouble than it was worth. It was too late to make a break for it from the cops as well.

Three of LA's finest closed in around the two, their guns drawn as one ordered Hiro to stand down.

The vigilante teen hero straightened up and held both gloved hands up in surrender. He glanced quickly around, wondering where Gogo was. "It's okay... I can explain," he said to one of the police men.

" _This one's all yours_ ," she told him over their comm-link. The speedster made it obvious that talking with the cops was going to be his responsibility. She didn't want to be involved this time. " _I'm going back to the 'Tank'."_

"He's not a tank!" he shot back, despite the odd look he attracted from the officer. His helmet was still on, with vior shaded to hide his face yet so he lowered his voice to a low whisper so only she could hear. "I got Rhoady... by the way."

" _Wait.. you got who..?_ "

Hiiro ignored her question, facing the commanding officer as he changed the transparency of his helmet'so visor to thirty five percent. Hopefully this wouldn't take long to clear up with the cops.

Specifically, just the cops. Because in hindsight, this was going to take a lot more explaining after he got back to the shop. Not just about why he was dressed like a superhero, but also how it just so happened that he bagged Rhoady. That was purely coincidence, but as his misfortune may have it, Rhoady's thugs very well could trace his connection back to GoGo's friends.

Just another wonderful day in his life.

* * *

 **Authors Notes: Many references to Cars… I apologize! Tokyo Mater FTW! (Big tip… once I realized 'who' Aunt Cass's truck looked like, this fic idea was hatched soon after). And yes, lots of other references/jabs from other really cool car chase/street race movie scenes. We all know which ones those are! And yes, Captain America: Civil War influenced me on some ways too. ;]**

 **Other inspiration for GoGo's character/past came from BH6 Japanese Marvel comic version, but tamed down to Disney's level. Such as the BH6 team getting to know her gang. Totally made up her old gang characters off the top of my head though.**

 **My first time writing older/future Hiro as well. I hope to write another part to this and get more of the other Big Hero 6 teammates involved, yes. But that greatly depends on my free time too!**

 **Thank you for reading!**


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